When I felt her soft lips pushing gently against my forehead this morning, I woke up, but I didn't open my eyes, or get up. I thought she was still lying on the other side of the bed, and I was too sleepy to consider otherwise. I inhaled extra deep when I smelt the scent of her shampoo. I smiled, and I guess I fell back asleep right after, because I can't recall the door closing behind her.

I woke up later, but I don't know how much. I looked at the other side of the bed, but she wasn't there. And she wasn't anywhere else in the room and I didn't hear the shower running. I couldn't think of other places she could be, because all this motel room had were a dirty looking grey bedroom and a green tiled bathroom, so small that when you had to pee, your legs were almost under the shower.

I sat up and looked around, not really worried yet. I figured she was just checking out or something, since she said she didn't want to stay that long. So I got up.

I opened the suitcase and immediately saw some of her clothes were missing. That's when I started to panic. I put on some clothes before I stormed to the door. I looked outside. She wasn't checking out. She wasn't just taking a walk. She's gone.

Eight months earlier

I felt the steering wheel slip through my sweaty hands a little as I drove onto the parking lot. I inhaled deeply and heard myself squeaking as I sighed out. I had never been that nervous in my life. I used to have auditions all the time, and if I did well I had five plays a week. Most of them were big productions on Broadway, others were small, but I loved it just the same. But the nerves I felt that day couldn't compare.

Maybe because this is not a play. This is a job. And what kind of job.

I woke up that morning, again wondering why I had chosen for this and if I'd made the right choice. I was kind of shocked when my alarm clock went off, since I was used to 10 o'clock rehearsals and some extra dance classes in the afternoon and I was worried I'd be late. But I was done twenty minutes before I had to go, which made me stress even more.

I hoped that day would put an end to my endless doubt as I stopped the car. I looked up at the huge building. There were a lot of buildings like these in Washington and they were so different from the ones in New York, I would never have found it without the navigator. I looked for an excuse to stay in the car a little longer, like a nice song on the radio, but in my stress I forgot to turn the radio on when I left. I rubbed my hands in an attempt to get the sweat off, but it only made it worse.

What am I doing? I asked myself for about the millionth time that month. There's no way back now. I looked at the building again. The buildings in New York are so much prettier.

"You?" my dad said, when I first told him about my plans. "Rachel, you used to cry for hours when you had a paper cut. You would never hurt a fly. A little change every now and then is okay, but don't you think this is a little drastic?" I said I had made up my mind. I said there was nothing they could say that would hold me back.
"But sweetie," my other dad tried. "You love New York. Washington is nothing like it." Everything they said was true and I knew as well as they did that they were right. But I wanted to do this. I think I really did.

"Stop," I said out loud, to my inner voices and memories. I put on a big fake smile, hoping it would make me believe that was how I felt, like I would to prepare for a new role. I grabbed the little suitcase from the passenger's chair. I wasn't sure why I brought it. I had seen people walking around with them in movies, so I figured I'd bring one, even if it was just to look more serious.

I got out of the car and pulled the ends of my jacket. I kept smiling and nodded to people I met as I walked into the building. My nerves got pushed aside for a minute when I saw the entrance hall again. It was so big and impressive. The marble walls made me feel safe, and their heights made me feel small, which calmed me down a bit. It reminded me of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York and I felt a little bit home for the first time since I arrived in Washington.

"You must be Berry," a soft voice said when I was walking to the elevators. I turned around and my eyes met the dreamy ones from a blond woman about my age. For a moment, I kept quiet. Her eyes were really beautiful. I could tell they were usually hazel, but from this view, with the marble reflecting the fresh morning sun around the hall, her eyes were gold.

"Yes," I said, when I found my speech back. I stuck my hand out to shake hers. "Rachel Berry."

"Quinn Fabray," she said. Quinn. The sound of her name roamed around in my head for a while. The way she'd said it sounded so nice. "Nice to meet you. You can come with me." I will come with you. But she stayed where she was, because we had to wait for the elevator to come down. It arrived with a soft 'pling'. I'd always hated that sound, as much as I hated elevators in general. They took my balance away for a while, sometimes it would take me hours to walk straight again. I would have taken the stairs, but I had to be pretty high up and now I had to stay with Quinn.

We stepped into the elevator and before even picking a floor, she closed the doors. I guess she didn't really like company in an elevator either.

"It seems you'll be my old partner," she said. "Oh," I replied, swallowing hard as I realized I probably had to spend a lot of time with her. And I wasn't sure why, but that excited me. "That's nice."

"Sure." I couldn't really tell how she felt about it. An awkward silence hung around us until the elevator stood still.

The rest of my first day included meeting up with the boss of the department, Lance Clayton, a serious looking man, but quite cynical at some moments, which made it hard for me to understand how he meant what he said, again, which he referred to as the 'hunters club', and I guess that made sense. He explained that me and Quinn would 'go out on the field' next week, to show me what it was like and after that I had to decide if I still wanted to go for this. I thought he was joking.

I met the other agents, but Quinn called them hunters, so I guess the hunters club was a pretty serious code name. There was one dark skinned guy, with a playful smirk constantly covering his face. He introduced himself as Benji, no last name, just Benji. And his eyes were really nice looking. He was really handsome and I couldn't help but smile when he looked at me.

We drank coffee with the other members and then she took me to the office. The other members all stayed in the coffee room, I guess that was how a usual day started for an FBI agent. Drinking coffee with your coworkers. Kind of like actors, I thought.

The office was a huge hall, with short walls to separate the little area's with desks in them. I think there were about forty of them. On the left side there were actual walls, consistent of only big windows with blinds behind them. It looked ridiculously boring. I prayed I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time there.

She directed me to my desk, which was next to hers and the window. I looked outside and felt my stomach clench when I saw how high we were up.

"The view is pretty amazing, isn't it?" Quinn said. I hadn't looked much farther than the parking lot, but when I did, I saw buildings on my left, and straight ahead, but when I looked between the two buildings across from the one I was in, I saw a big green park, and right behind that, I saw the shore. A boat full of tourists slid through the water so slowly you could barely see it moving. And it was indeed pretty amazing, as far as you could see from there.

I turned away from the window to look at my desk. There was a box on it, with someone's stuff in it, but for the rest it was completely empty.

"He never even came to pick up his stuff," Quinn said, slightly annoyed.

"What happened?" I asked, slightly worried. "He seemed so strong in the gym. Pissed his pants and froze when I needed him." I got a little more worried. I wouldn't even seem strong in the gym. I was hired on my sweet looks that would come in handy to mislead the wolf. Those were the literal words mr Clayton used. I wondered what I would do if Quinn needed me and tried to imagine what kind of situation that would be anyway.

"It's okay," Quinn said. I think she saw my eyes widening at my thoughts. "I asked for a female partner. You'll do fine." I smiled nervously and looked in her direction. She walked towards my desk and took the box while she mumbled, "I'll take care of this." She took it to another desk and I waited for her as I set my suitcase on the desk.

"Why did you want a female partner?" I asked when she came back. She didn't say anything for a while, like she didn't realize I was asking her and then suddenly remembered. "I just figured we would make a better team." And then she turned around and walked towards her own desk.

I spend the day meeting some club members and starting things up. I didn't see Benji, though, Quinn said he was preparing for a 'hunt'. She said she thought we would get one soon and that we would start my personal training the day after, because she wanted to see what I was capable of. She basically wanted to see whether I was strong enough to be thrown in front of the big bad wolf, or to be the one saving her from it.